


Deep Breaths of Clean Air

by tamerofdarkstars



Category: Borderlands (Video Games)
Genre: Character Study, F/M, Fiona processes some emotions, Late Night Sister Chats, don't worry vaughn's abs are still excellent, i fricking love tales from the borderlands alright guys, rhys can dance dont @ me, sasha remains the voice of reason
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-30
Updated: 2018-07-30
Packaged: 2019-06-19 01:38:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,939
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15499449
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tamerofdarkstars/pseuds/tamerofdarkstars
Summary: “Look, it’s not a big deal. You and Rhys are happy, and that’s what’s important to me.”“Me and Rhys?” Sasha sounded bewildered. “Wait, what are you talking about?"





	Deep Breaths of Clean Air

**Author's Note:**

> hi there i still love tales from the borderlands and also rhyiona and also y'all can pry my 'rhys can dance' headcanons from my cold dead fingers. expect more of that headcanon in the near future because i'm definitely not done with it yet

There was sand crusting her eyelashes. It was driving Fiona crazy, gritty and irritating every time she blinked, but there was Vaughn’s desert encampment finally in the distance and the thought of having some actual damn shelter kept her putting one foot in front of the other.

Vaughn had co-opted a big piece of wreckage as his central command and it had grown from an empty piece of twisted metal into a sort of community meeting space for his bandits. Around Fiona, the desert was growing dark and the wreckage offered a soft, inviting glow from the gashes in its side.

She was so exhausted, her latest lead for a Vault Key having ended in a frustrating dead end, that she didn’t even hear the music until she was almost on top of it.

She frowned, confused, and slipped through the open doorway, squinting as her eyes adjusted to the lights.

A few of Vaughn’s bandits were scattered around, laughing and smiling. They looked worlds away from the exhausted and bewildered corporate employees who’d survived the crash all those months ago – many of them had lost the haunted, gaunt look around the eyes.

Vaughn himself was leaning against the opposite wall, a wide grin on his face, clapping along with the beat thumping from an ancient looking jukebox in the corner.

In the center of the makeshift circle, laughing and stomping, were a pair of dancers.

Rhys had abandoned his jacket at some point, rolling the sleeves of his dress shirt up to his elbows, and he’d lost his tie. He was mouthing along to the words, a silly grin splashed across his face, as he spun Sasha around and around in a little circle.

Sasha was shrieking at him to slow down, but was barely able to get the words out above the music and the laughter, and was doing an admirable job of keeping up with him anyway. They didn’t appear to be doing anything particularly formal – just stepping around and around, keeping up with the beat of the song.

Fiona’s eyes snagged on Rhys, on the easy way he was able to steer Sasha through the steps, and realized that he must actually know how to dance. He was moving with a strange sort of loose-limbed grace that had been completely absent from their mad dash across Pandora during the whole Gortys Incident, comfortable for once in his skin.

They looked like they were having fun.

Fiona suddenly felt every ounce of sand and blood and sweat and exhaustion that had settled over her in the last several hours. She felt clumsy, awkward, and was furious with herself. She’d told herself ages ago that if Rhys and Sasha were happy together, then she wasn’t going to do a damn thing about it. Jealousy was stupid, and besides, it wasn’t like Rhys was going to stop being her friend, or Sasha her sister just because they’d gone and fallen for each other.

Fiona pressed her lips together, frustrated with the way her heart didn’t appear to be listening to her brain. The whole thing was making her head ache.

No one had seen her, yet. She could still disappear. Maybe Athena and Janey would put her up for a night or two.

The song had swelled, and Rhys abruptly twisted, planting his foot and catching Sasha around the waist. He dipped her and Sasha yelped in surprise, throwing an arm up and catching his shoulder to steady her balance.

The bandits burst into scattered applause and Rhys straightened them both back up, a sheepish grin on his face.

Sasha immediately slugged him in the shoulder.

“Ow!” Rhys reached up and rubbed his shoulder, pouting at her. “That’s gonna bruise!”

“You could have dropped me!”

“But I didn’t.”

“You could have.”

“The key here, Sasha, is that I didn’t.”

Sasha rolled her eyes at him, the smile tugging at her lips small and fond, and Fiona needed to leave. Now. She put a hand on the door frame as she eased backwards, intending on sneaking away. She’d barely gone two steps, however, before Vaughn spotted her.

“Fiona! You’re back!”

She winced. Rhys and Sasha looked in unison towards the door and lit up, twin expressions of delight on their faces, and Fiona felt an uneasy swoop of guilt clench in the pit of her stomach. Damn it, she really was the worst friend/sister in the entire world.

“Fi!” Sasha strode across the room towards her as the bandits dissipated, wandering off now that the show had ended to find other entertainment. Rhys was right on her heel, and Fiona kept her eyes off him, focusing on her sister. Sasha put her hands on Fiona’s shoulders, examining her from head to toe. “Did you find anything? You look beat.”

“I’m pretty tired,” Fiona admitted. “And no. Dead end.”

“Damn,” Sasha said and Fiona wholeheartedly agreed.

Rhys was shuffling from foot to foot, half a step behind Sasha, and Fiona couldn’t help herself. She looked at him quickly, meeting his eyes. He looked concerned and she looked down and away.

“Well, we’re glad you’re back,” Sasha said, letting her arms drop. “We were going to crash but someone—” And here, she shot Rhys an amused glance, “— insisted that we stay up to wait for you.”

Rhys cleared his throat, hand going up to rake his fingers through his hair, the motion familiar and nervous. “Well, you know, lots can happen out in the desert at night.”

Fiona raised an eyebrow at him. “You didn’t even know I was coming back tonight.”

He shrugged, letting his hand drop. “Just in case?”

Fiona ruthlessly stamped down on the weak flip her heart attempted. “I didn’t know you could dance,” she said, instead, to distract herself. To remind herself what she’d walked into.

_I’m interested in someone else_ , Rhys had said at the Vault of the Traveler, a tiny, fragile expression on his face that Fiona was startled to see. _Someone else_ , he’d said. How moronic of her to think that maybe it might have been her. After all, they’d done nothing but argue the entire length of the Gortys Incident.

No one got under her skin like Rhys did.

But then, no one made her heart leap or her blood sing quite like him either.

Damn it, damn it, _damn it_.

“Oh,” Rhys said, looking faintly embarrassed. “Uh, yeah? Kind of. It’s no big deal.”

Sasha rolled her eyes again. “Oh please, what happened to ‘I’m the greatest dancer in the world, Sasha, prepare to be amazed’?”

Rhys turned a blotchy pink and Fiona couldn’t help but smile, folding her arms across her chest and raising an eyebrow. “Now that sounds more like our favorite arrogant corporate scumbag,” she teased and Rhys shot her a petulant little pout, lips turning down at the corners.

“I don’t like this,” he whined, gesturing between them, and Sasha and Fiona exchanged an eye roll and a grin. Vaughn bounded up to them, bouncing on the balls of his feet as he clapped his hands together.

“Fiona! Glad to see you’re still alive and breathing.”

“Back at you,” Fiona said, tipping him a salute, and Vaughn chuckled.

“You look like you need some sleep.”

“I was kind of hoping to stay,” Fiona confessed, feeling another wave of exhaustion crash over her. She felt slow and sleepy, wrung out, and she just wanted to scrub the dirt off of her and go to bed.

Vaughn clapped his hands together again. “You can all stay. No running water, obviously, but I’ll have one of the Children go fill up the basins.”

“I got it, Vaughn,” Rhys said immediately. “The, uh, Children still kinda give me the creeps. No offense.”

Vaughn shrugged. “None taken,” he said easily. “We’re a creepy bunch.”

They headed through the common area out the back. Vaughn had knocked out a wall of the wreckage since the last time Fiona had been through the camp, and where had once been twisted metal was now a series of free-standing little huts scattered around haphazardly.

Vaughn spread his arms wide, gesturing to the little community. “The Children of Helios!” he declared dramatically. “Great at gathering materials, not so great at building in straight lines. But you know. Details.”

He pointed out a few free encampments. “Those should be available. Rhys, buddy, come on, I’ll show you where the well is.”

“I still can’t believe you managed to somehow drill for fresh water in the middle of the desert,” Rhys said, trailing after Vaughn.

“Hey! I got mad skills!”

Their voices faded as they disappeared down the path. Sasha spun on Fiona immediately.

“Alright, Fi, what gives?”

Fiona blinked, thrown. “Huh?”

“Don’t huh me.” Sasha crossed her arms. “You’ve been off since you got back. Did… did something happen out there? You’re not hurt, are you?”

Fiona shook her head. She could feel the tension creeping into her shoulders, and her headache pounded unhappily at her temples. “No, no, I’m fine. Just tired. Honest.”

Sasha raised an eyebrow and Fiona knew she was screwed. The staring contest lasted a few more seconds, just for the sake of her own stubborn pride, before she sighed.

“Sorry. Seriously, it’s nothing. Just… you know.”

“No, Fiona, actually I don’t know. Hence the reason I asked.”

Instead of answering, Fiona ducked inside the nearest little hut, pushing back the bit of fabric that served as a door and sinking down onto the bedroll tucked into the corner. Sasha scooted in and sat beside her in the gloom, her features a blur of shadows. She bumped their shoulders together and Fiona sighed.

“Look, it’s not a big deal. You and Rhys are happy, and that’s what’s important to me.”

“Me and Rhys?” Sasha sounded bewildered. “Wait, what are you talking about? Are you _not_ happy?”

“Not what I meant,” Fiona gritted out. She shifted uncomfortably on the ground, drawing her knees up to her chest and resting her chin on them. “I mean… you know.”

“Fiona.”

“I mean that you’re happy _together_ ,” Fiona said, lifting her head and tipping it back so she could rest it against the wall. “And I’m happy for you. Seriously. And I hope that—”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa.” Sasha interrupted her almost immediately, twisting in the shadows to stare at her. Fiona glanced at her, at the layered gray that made up her sister’s face. “Are you kidding?”

“I... don’t understand the question,” Fiona said and Sasha snorted.

“Fi, seriously. For like, the billionth time, Rhys and I have zero interest in each other. How have we not had this conversation?”

A weird mixture of confusion and relief was pulsing in the headache at Fiona’s temples and she really just wanted to go to bed and reset to tomorrow. “I don’t know. Haven’t we?”

Sasha shifted next to her, leaning her head on Fiona’s shoulder. “Fiona. I love you, but seriously, the two of you need to get your shit together.”

Fiona was silent, staring blankly into the gloom. “I don’t know what to do, Sash,” she confessed hoarsely and Sasha hummed under her breath.

They sat in silence for a few moments before Sasha finally sighed. “Listen. Rhys is a moron. I mean, I love him – lowercase L – but he’s a moron. And he’s also squishy. And probably terrified if he says anything about his massive crush on you that you’re gonna punch him in the face and never speak to him again.”

Fiona groaned and dropped her head forward onto her knees, squeezing her eyes shut. Her heart was throbbing, blood echoing in her ears. She wanted this conversation to stop, but at the same time, Sasha’s casual declaration was beating in her brain on a loop over and over and over again.

“I might punch him in the face out of pure terror,” Fiona mumbled and Sasha snorted.

There was a pause, a beat of silence, before Sasha cleared her throat.

“Do, uh, do you actually… you know. Like him?”

Fiona chewed on her lower lip, biting down on it hard as she lifted her head up. Here, in this little shack in the middle of Vaughn’s wayward bandit camp, sitting in the almost darkness with Sasha…

Fiona swallowed hard. “I… think I kind of do,” she whispered.

“See? That wasn’t so hard, was it?” Sasha nudged her. “Now just say the same thing, but to his face, and I can stop fielding his calls at three in the morning whining about how you hate him.”

Fiona stared at the Sasha-shaped shadow. “He does not do that.”

“At least once a week.”

Fiona snorted and Sasha giggled. Sasha’s giggles set something off in Fiona’s chest, her own laughter bubbling up, and before they knew it, both girls were laughing hysterically, slumped against each other, tears in their eyes.

Fiona felt like a weight had been lifted off her chest, at the point of delirious exhaustion where everything was funny. And somewhere in the back of her mind, a memory of a soft purple glow and a voice – _I’m… interested in someone else_ – lingered, filling her chest with warmth.

A thumping on the outside wall cut through their giggles, and the blanket rustled aside. A beam of light cut through the gloom, lit from Rhys’ hand, and Fiona and Sasha groaned in unison, flinging their hands up to block the light.

“Ah, sorry, sorry,” he said, directing the beam at the opposite wall. “Vaughn and I dragged some water over, if you guys want to wash up.”

Sasha popped up off the floor and held a hand out to Fiona. Fiona grabbed it, allowing Sasha to pull her up. Rhys kept the light pointed at the ground, lighting their way as they headed outside.

“What were you guys laughing at?” he asked Fiona, falling into step beside her.

Sasha jogged ahead towards Vaughn, who was splashing water up onto his face from a big round basin set up on the other side of the pathway. Fiona shrugged one shoulder.

“Nothing, really,” she said. She tipped her head back and looked up at the stars overhead. They looked pretty great tonight. Everything looked pretty great tonight.

“Hey,” Rhys said, and she paused, realizing he’d stopped a step behind her. She looked back at him. “Are you sure you’re alright? You seem… pretty worn out.”

Fiona opened her mouth, then closed it again. “Yeah,” she admitted. “I’m alright. It was just a long week. And pretty frustrating for a dead end.”

Rhys pressed his lips together. “Listen...” he said, eyes flicking from her down to study the tops of his shoes. “Maybe… I mean, you totally can say no, but maybe next time I can go with you? You know. To help? Or, to watch your stuff while you charge into battle?”

Fiona smiled, but Rhys plowed on without noticing.

“I mean, we made a pretty good team with the whole Gortys thing, and I can totally take a few days off. Like, Atlas is fairly self-sufficient now. Well, it’s sufficient at least. Enough that I can take a few days off. Unless you don’t want me to come. Which like I said is, uh, cool. Totally… cool. I could totally find other stuff to do.”

“Rhys?” He looked back up at her and she smiled gently. “Stop talking.”

“Yep,” he said, zipping his lips with the hand that wasn’t currently a flashlight. “Doing that. Shutting up now.”

Fiona studied him, at the self-conscious twist to his lips, at the way the light cast shadows on his cheekbones, at the ink snaking its way down underneath his collar, and felt very very warm, all the way down to her fingertips.

“I did have a tip from someone I met on the road about a piece of an old map buried in all the Dahl wreckage down in the Caustic Caverns...” she said casually. She folded her arms, looking down at the ground before she screwed up the courage to look back into his eyes. “If you had some free time… I could use a partner.”

“Yes,” Rhys said instantly. “Uh, I mean, I’m sure I can pencil it in somewhere on my busy busy calendar.”

He grinned, small and earnest, and Fiona grinned back. They stood there for a moment in the little pool of light, smiling at each other like a couple of idiots.

“Hey! Are you two going to come wash up or what?” Vaughn called and the moment broke.

“Yeah, yeah, keep your shirt on,” Rhys griped at Vaughn, shining his hand in the direction of the basin. “I know it’s a challenge for you.”

“Hey, bro, don’t be jealous of my glorious abs,” Vaughn shot back.

“Stop showing them off then and maybe I won’t cry myself to sleep at night.”

Fiona laughed, reaching up to cover her mouth to bite back the noise and Rhys shot her a conspiratorial grin. They headed for the basin, just close enough that Sasha could flick water at them.

“Get over here, Fi, you stink.”

“Excuse you, I smell like success,” Fiona shot back and without preamble, bent over and dunked her entire head into the basin of cold water. She shot back up with a gasp, blinking streams of water from her eyes, her hair sticking with a slap to her forehead.

Vaughn and Sasha were laughing, and Rhys was gazing at her from across the basin, fondness tinging every line of his face, and Fiona couldn’t think of a single place in the entire universe that she’d rather be than right here in this spot.


End file.
